The app launcher makes Chrome apps easy to open outside the browser, but we’ve found that users on Windows, Mac, and Linux prefer to launch their apps from within Chrome.With Chrome’s continued emphasis on simplicity and streamlining browser features, the launcher will be removed from those platforms. It will remain unchanged on Chrome OS.

The removal process will take place over the next several months. Beginning in a few weeks, Chrome will no longer enable the launcher when users first install a Chrome app. Anyone who currently has the launcher will receive a notice informing them that the launcher will be going away. In July, existing instances of the launcher will be removed.

Chrome apps can still be accessed by clicking the apps shortcut in the bookmarks bar or typing chrome://apps in the omnibox. Learn more about opening Chrome apps by visiting the help center.

Push notification improvementsPush notifications allow a site to trigger system-level notifications in the same way that native applications do. The initial version of push notifications relied on service workers to proactively fetch the information for a notification from the server. This led to problems when there were multiple messages in flight or when the device was on a flaky network connection. The latest version of Chrome allows sites to include notification data payloads with their push messages to eliminate the final server check. To protect user privacy, push notification payloads must be encrypted. Push notification payloads are part of the Push API spec and already supported in Firefox.

In addition to payloads, sites can now detect when a notification is closed by the user, enabling better analytics and allowing cross-device notification dismissal. Sites can also control the look of notifications more finely, setting custom timestamps and icons for notification actions. When updating a notification, sites can specify whether the device should alert the user with sound or vibration, or remain silent.